Iran Unbowed: An exhibition of work by leading contemporary Iranian artists

When:

Oct 10 to Nov 8, 2009

Where:

The Churchill, Hyatt Regency London
30 Portman Square
London W1H 7BH,
United Kingdom

Organizer:

Candlestar Ltd.

Description:

Iran Unbowed is a response to the current popularity of Iranian art on the international stage. Alongside established Masters such as Abbas Kiarostami, Farideh Lashai and Parviz Tanavoli and leading mid-career artists such as Pooya Ayranpour and Samira Alikhanzadeh; Iran Unbowed features two artists – Hossein Cheraghchi and Rasool Soltani – whose work has not previously been shown in London.

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Their work is rooted in the traditions and artistic styles of Persian art; yet each of the artists demonstrates a clear, if widely varied, level of engagement with developments within contemporary Western artistic practice.

Artists:

Shahriar Ahmadi - Born 1979

Using his hands to apply paint to canvas and board, he creates radiant, multicolour palettes on monochromatic backgrounds. His work is inspired by the poetry of Rumi.

Samira Alikhanzadeh - Born 1967

Alikhanzadeh’s work uses a very specific technique: the application of mirrors that draw the viewer into the work, causing them to reflect on questions of identity and heritage.

Pooya Aryanpour - Born 1971

Aryanpour’s paintings, which he calls ‘accidental events’, create suspense and mystery with dramatic white shapes that hint at calligraphy, set against dark backgrounds.

Shahoo Babaie – Born 1980

Babaie’s style is characterised by a distinctive palette of earthy or washed-out tones. He creates images that appear to occupy a space somewhere between realism and abstraction.

Hossein Cheraghchi – Born 1984

Cheraghchi’s paintings and drawings use minimal line and colour to create haunting, almost extrasensory, spaces.

Morteza Darehbaghi – Born 1969

Darehbaghi’s style has evolved throughout his career and is now defined by conceptual and abstract shadowy shapes and colours. The motifs and elements in his work hark back to a ‘great yearning for the past traditions and ancient civilizations’.

Yasmine Esfandiary - Born 1955

Esfandiary creates vibrant compositions saturated in colour that retrace and investigate icons and symbols of the Western and Middle Eastern cultures she was surrounded by in childhood.

Abbas Kiarostami – Born 1940

Kiarostami is one of the most important figures in Iranian film. He won the 1997 Palm d’Or for Taste of Cherry and his films have received many other international awards, Kiarostami is also an acclaimed photographer. Iran Unbowed features two images from his iconic Roads series.

Farideh Lashai – Born 1944

Lashai’s paintings assimilate many different artistic traditions from seventeenth century northern European art and, later, Paul Cezanne to the colour and heritage of Far Eastern painting. She aims to illustrate nature in a symbolic and ambiguous way creating the atmosphere of a landscape in the poetic artistic tradition of the Far East.

Tahereh Samadi Tari – Born 1981

Tari’s compositions often depict solitary figures in ambiguous urban settings. Using a hazy painterly style, her works are often photographic, even cinematographic.

Maryam Shirinlou – Born 1966

Shirinlou’s calligraphic paintings and mixed media collages are inspired by mystical Persian poetry, and are often eloquent reflections on the human form and spiritual condition.

Rasool Soltani – Born 1968

Soltani uses acrylic paint, on canvas or cardboard, to create images in the style of 1950s magazine advertisements. These images resonate powerfully in Iran where they hark back to a world disconnected from today’s reality.

Parviz Tanavoli – Born 1937

Tanavoli is often described as the father of modern Iranian sculpture. His work explores and analyses the rich visual and literary traditions of Iran. It is featured in the permanent collections of the British Museum, MoMA, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran. His sculpture Wall (Oh Persepolis) reached a record price $2.8 million in Dubai.

Mohsen Vaziri Moghadam – Born 1924

The 80 year old Vaziri was one of Iranian’s first Modernist painters. His work is brave, accomplished and ambitious with periodical bursts of wit lending an energetic tempo to his visual melody.



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